Before we dive into this question, let’s address a common misconception right up front. There is no one answer for “How long does X last”. Were you to go online and Google how long electric boilers last right now, you’d find answers varying from 8 years to 25 years. Why so much variance? Let’s take a look:
Boiler Lifespan
The peak lifespan of a unit is going to be based, in part, on how much you use it and how well you maintain it. Obviously, when your boiler is running non-stop it’s going to wear out faster than a boiler that’s being run only occasionally. How often you maintain your boiler is important too – sediment can build up in a boiler and cause all kinds of problems if you’re not draining it and maintaining it regularly.
Here’s another reason for variance: the kind of electric boiler you have. There are all kinds of these things on the market. Some of them have solid state parts, a fancy way of saying that there are less mechanical parts in the control unit. This leads to less friction between parts, which leads to less wear. Conversely, if you have an electric boiler with a mechanical control unit, you may end up needing to repair it more often.
Yet another reason it’s hard to give lifespan estimates on these things: they haven’t been around that long! For decades, we’ve been gathering data on various types of gas boilers, so we can make a good guess how long one will last you depending on the materials it’s made up of, it’s capacity, and how often you use it. With electric boilers, we can still make educated guesses, but many of the models haven’t been on the market for that long, so we don’t know a definite answer.
So, how long can you expect your electric boiler to last? Generally speaking, if you get a high-quality model, it will last you 15-25 years – about the same amount of time as a gas boiler. During this time, you may have fewer costs related to maintenance, as there tend to be fewer moving parts in an electric boiler. When deciding whether or not to replace a gas boiler with an electric one, there are several questions you should ask: how much will you save with an electric unit? Would repairing the gas unit be a more affordable/viable option than replacing it? Are electric boilers greener? (That question has an interesting answer that we might address in another blog post).
Hopefully, this gives you some insight not only into the logic of purchasing an electric boiler, but the complex logic that goes into determining the lifespan of any appliance or fixture. Looking for Winnipeg boilers? Get in touch with us; we can help you keep the lifespan of your unit up, and tell you whether or not it’s getting near time to repair or replace it.
